Julia Hales' lifelong ambition is to appear on long-running Australian soap opera Home and Away.

She's not there yet, but this dream has launched her into the world of the performing arts, forming the basis of the actor's headline show at Perth Festival, You Know We Belong Together, which premieres next week.

The show, a festival-commissioned play created in conjunction with Black Swan Theatre and DADAA (Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts), takes its title from the theme song of the popular soap:

"You know we belong together, you and I forever and ever, no matter where you are, you're my guiding star."

"It's about acceptance, belonging, it's also about love and romance," Hales says.

"It's about my life and how I grew up with Down syndrome."

A proud advocate for the Down community, Hales sees herself as a voice for artists with a disability and is keen to shake off societal prejudices and show the wider community what she is capable of.

"I want the whole world to know that we are part of this world and we should be accepted," she says.

"[People] only see a Down syndrome person but they don't see what I have to go through."

'Smart, articulate, determined'

Perth Festival artistic director Wendy Martin was first introduced to Hales through a series of video clips of previous shows in which she had appeared.

"When I got talking to Julia I discovered that she wanted to make a theatre show, and she had a dream about wanting to be in Home and Away, and this seemed the opportunity … to actually commission a new work and to create opportunities for local artists to be in the festival," Ms Martin said.

"Julia sees herself very much as a leader in her community and I realised meeting her how passionate she is to have people understand what it means to live with Down syndrome."

Ms Martin admits the festival took a risk in commissioning the show from a performer without a mainstream theatre background — but insists it was "no more risk than any other commission for the festival".

"She's had this idea for many many years to create a theatre show and she's is very clear about what she wants to do," she said.

"Every new work we commission is a risk — you never know what you're going to end up with until you sit there in the first dress rehearsal.

"Julia has been supported by an extraordinary group of artists and collaborators, and together they're making this happen."

Home and Away visit

While Hales has yet to realise her ambition of appearing on Home and Away, thanks to the Festival she's achieved the next best thing.

Last month she flew out to visit the set of the popular TV series, where she filmed a sequence with veteran actor Ray Meagher, one of the series' stalwarts who plays the character of Alf Stewart.

The sequence will be used exclusively in You Know We Belong Together.

Hales said her excitement at visiting the set was difficult to contain.